Stay Beautiful
by This Calls For More Glitter
Summary: Cory's eyes are like a jungle He smiles, it's like the radio He whispers songs into my window In words nobody knows... Monchele fic. Based offf Taylor Swift's "Stay Beautiful". Read and review! One-shot.


**Disclaimer: I own nothing! I do not own Glee, I do not own Stay Beautiful by Taylor Swift.**

**Author's Note: I hope you enjoy! Please review! ~Jackie PS: This is a ****MONCHELE ****one-shot, ****NOT FINCHEL****. This song just always reminded me of those two, so I wrote a fic about it. And once again, enjoy!**

_Cory's eyes are like a jungle_

_He smiles, it's like the radio_

_He whispers songs into my window_

_In words nobody knows_

__God, he was beautiful. Ever since the first time they met, Lea could sometimes get lost in thought and just gaze at Cory lovingly, studying every plane of his face, his eyes, his lips, his smile…God that smile. That smile drove her crazy and it was like-

"Lea!"

Lea jumps in her seat. Chris and Amber were looking at her funny, making Lea wonder how long she had been off in her own little world.

"What?" She mumbles, forcing herself to pull her eyes away from Cory, even though she had just caught his gaze.

"Are you even listening to us?" Amber asks.

"Yeah." Lea lies.

"Then what did we say?"

Lea sighs. "Sorry. I was just thinking a lot about this duet Cory and I recorded and…"Chris and Amber immediately get these weird, little half-smiles on their faces when she brings up Cory's name. "I just…" Lea stammers. "I really wanted to do that song justice. Yeah. That's it."

"Sure," Chris says, doing a hair flip that rivals anyone he's ever done playing Kurt as he takes a brief look at Cory and the others guys who are sitting at the other side of the trailer before looking back at Lea. "Sure you were." And then he winks.

_There's pretty girls on every corner_

_That watch him as he's walking home_

_Saying, does he know_

_Will you ever know_

No. He's going out with someone else.

Lea knew this would happen sooner or later, but she's still shocked when Chris tells her before they start filming that Monday morning, even showing her a picture of Cory and his new GF from Facebook as proof.

The girl's really pretty, Lea has to admit it. She's got this dazzling smile and super long blonde hair that goes down to her waist, but she can pull it off. Chris is convinced she's wearing Marc Jacobs.

"You okay?" Chris asks when he sees that Lea's face has fallen.

The girl simply nods. "Yeah, I'm fine. I need to go, I have to film a scene today."

And then she leaves before Chris can say anything else.

_You're beautiful_

_Every little piece love, don't you know_

_You're really gonna be someone, ask anyone_

_When you find everything you looked for_

_I hope your life leads you back to my door_

_Oh but if it don't, stay beautiful_

She sees him on her way to the set about five minutes later.

"Hey! Cory! Wait up!"

He turns around and smiles at her, causing her heart to skip a beat.

"Hi," He says.

"Hey," Lea replies, before blurting out, a little more straightforward than she meant. "Chris told me about your new girlfriend."

Cory's smile fades. "Oh."

"Don't worry," She says. "I'm happy for you." And she really is. She just wishes it was her making him happy, not this blonde chick, whoever she was.

He smiles again and pats her on the back in a friendly manner. "Well, at least both of us are blissfully in love now."

"Actually…" Lea says. "…Theo and I broke up."

Cory is visibly surprised. "Really? When?"

"A few weeks back."

"And I'm just hearing about this?"

Lea shrugs. "I just heard about your new girlfriend."

He rolls his eyes and Lea laughs.

"You are such a child sometimes!" She giggles again.

Cory grins at her before trying his best to soothe her, even though she really doesn't need anything soothing. "I'm sorry, but believe me. You'll find someone."

Lea pretends to sniff as they walk off to the set. "Thanks," She says, thinking to herself: "_But _I_ broke up with _him."

_Cory finds another way to be_

_The highlight of my day_

_I'm taking pictures in my mind_

_So I can save them for a rainy day_

_It's hard to make conversation_

_When he's taking my breath away_

_I should say, hey by the way_

"I love you," He says.

"I love you too." She gasps.

And then they're kissing passionately.

"And cut!" Ryan yells. "Great take you guys!"

Lea really loves filming with Cory, and not just the romantic, lovey-dovey Finchel scenes. She even loves the angsty ones were they have to yell and scream at each other and she has to give him the occasional slap. She just loves any one-on-one time she gets with Cory, because he's such an awesome guy.

There are times when Lea tries to tell Cory how she feels. Most of the time it's when Ryan or Ian or Brad has written a new Finn-Rachel scene for them or there's a new Finchel storyline, but she's tried other times too. No matter what she says, sometimes she gets out only one word and sometimes she's just about to say "I love you", but always he has to go before she can choke out the words or she gets cold feet and leaves quickly. Lea is just happy to spend time with the guy anyway.

It's about a month after Cory's new girlfriend came into the picture, and they're walking out at the end of a long day of filming together. It's a rainy, spring day in LA so both of them open their umbrellas.

"Are you hanging out with your girlfriend tonight?" Lea asks casually.

"Nah," Cory replies. "We don't really have as much in common as I thought. I think I might break up with her."

"I'm so sorry," Honestly, Lea does feels bad for Cory. So why does she have to force herself not to smile?

Right, because she wants him for herself.

The girl leans up to give him a friendly kiss on the cheek. "It'll get better," Lea says. "I promise."

"Thanks."

She skips off towards her car, but hears him call after her: "Stay beautiful!"

Lea bites her lip and squeals to herself. She spins around, nearly dancing in the rain, accidentally stepping into a big puddle and getting her boots super wet. She hears Cory laugh behind her as he starts off to the other side of the lot.

He thinks she's beautiful!

_If you and I are a story_

_That never gets told_

_If what you are is a daydream_

_I'll never get to hold, at least you'll know_

It's a hot summers day, and she's sitting in her and Dianna's apartment, lying on the couch on her stomach, watching _Monte Carlo_ on On Demand because she wants to see his face terribly. This way, she can stare at him all she wants without anyone thinking she's absolutely crazy.

"You love him, don't you?"

Lea looks up, startled. Dianna is standing in the doorway, hands on her hips and key in hand. Oh no.

"Who, Cory?" Lea pretends to scoff at the idea. "Why are you home early?"

Dianna doesn't answer the question. "You do love him!"

"I didn't admit to anything," Lea retorts.

"But you're a terrible liar,"

Lea can't help it, she blushes. "Okay…so maybe I do have feelings for him."

The blonde smiles. "I thought so,"

_You're beautiful every little piece love,_

_and don't you know your really gonna be someone ask anyone._

_and when you find everything you looked for,_

_I hope your life leads you back to my front door._

_oh but if it don't will you stay_

_beautiful beautiful beautiful_

_beautiful beautiful beautiful_

_la la la_

_Oh, oh oh oh,_

_oh but if it don't,_

_stay beautiful_

_stay beautiful_

_Na na na na na _

They're at New Year's Eve party several months later. The entire cast is there, but they've lost everyone else in the crowds and are sitting together, just the two of them, at a table near the over-crowded dance floor. It's precisely 11:59, a minute away from the new year.

"Ummm…Cory?" Lea says.

"10…9…8…7…6…!" Everyone around them chants as the countdown begins.

"There's something I want to tell you."

"5…4…3…2…1…!" The crowd applauds as the clock strikes midnight. "HAPPY NEW YEAR!" And then he pulls her into a kiss.

When Lea pulls away, Cory's smiling at her beautifully and she can hardly say anything. "Oh. My. God. How did you find out?"

"Di told me."

Lea can't help it. She rolls her eyes. What happened to friends keeping secrets? (Well…she could forgive Dianna this one time, she was trying to help her anyhow…) "So," She finally says. "You like me back?"

"I don't like you back," Lea's smile quickly fades, but it reappears when he says the next words out of his mouth. "I _love_ you back, I have for as long as I can remember. I've just been to scared to admit it."

"Me too,"

She leans into kiss him again, but before she can they hear a series of "awww's". The rest of the cast is looking down on them from the balcony and they drop a few streamers down on Lea and Cory's heads before "aww"ing again.

Lea just grins at them and mouths Dianna a quick thank you (The girl gives her a thumbs-up in return) before turning back to Cory and letting him kiss her senseless.


End file.
